ALLENTOWN: UFRSD awards contracts for cardio-weight room at high school

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   ALLENTOWN — The Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education last week authorized a $168,662 lease-purchase financing agreement for the planned cardio-weight room at Allentown High School, and also awarded three contracts for the construction, HVAC and electrical work related to the project.
   In other action at its April 6 meeting, the school board approved the bid specifications for outsourcing of bus routes to private contractors, and agreed to set a minimum selling price of $260,000 for the old Imlaystown School.
   The cardio-weight room project involves making ventilation and safety improvements to a storage room at the high school so it can be renovated and converted into a cardio-weight facility. A $67,465 state grant will defray some of the cost, and the district is responsible for the remaining $101,197.
   To finance the project, the school board approved a five-year $168,662 lease-purchase contract with Municipal Leasing Consultants, which carries a 4.9 percent interest rate. The vote was 8-1, with school board member Steven Gagliardi casting the lone no vote. Board member Douglas Anthony was absent.
   Fifteen contractors submitted bids for either the construction, HVAC or electrical work associated with the project. The board accepted the three lowest bids by the same 8-1 vote. Mr. Gagliardi again voted against it.
   Hahr Construction of North Plainfield was awarded a $58,700 contract for the general construction work, Envirocon LLC of Hackettstown was awarded a $65,982 contract for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning work, and Little Silver Electric was awarded a $27,100 contract for the electrical work.
   The three contracts total $151,782. The remaining $16,880 of the $168,662 lease-purchase agreement is for a variety of “soft costs,” such as architectural design fees, according to School Business Administrator Diana Schiraldi.
   There was no comment about the project prior to the vote from either the school board members or the three residents who attended the meeting.

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   IN OTHER ACTION on April 6, the Board of Education voted unanimously to advertise jointly with the Millstone School District for private contractors’ bids to take over bus routes in the two districts. The bid opening date was set for April 13.
   The school board has decided to lay off 15 district bus drivers and aides, sell off its bus fleet, and hire outside bus contractors for the 2011-2012 school year. The move is expected to produce a one-time savings of $211,830 from the sale of the buses and $275,000 from the actual privatization of transportation services.
   Schools Superintendent Richard Fitzpatrick said the bid specs require the private contractor to offer the laid-off UFRSD bus drivers the “right of first refusal” on any new positions the contractor has to fill. The salaries paid by private contractors, however, are substantially less than what the UFRSD drivers are now earning and many of the district’s drivers who attended recent public hearings on the outsourcing issue have said they would not apply for the jobs.
   Dr. Fitzpatrick said the bid specifications state that the private contractor’s drivers must comply with drug and alcohol testing and pass criminal history background checks. The district also will be able to impose financial penalties on the contractor if its bus drivers fail to arrive on time at bus stops.
   Millstone has a shared services contract with UFRSD for transportation services, which is about to expire. Millstone and UFRSD are advertising together for bids for a joint transportation contract, but private bus companies also can bid on the Millstone routes separately. Millstone Board of Education President Kevin McGovern has said the district would wait to see what the bids are before making a decision on whether to privatize or bring transportation services back in-house.
   The UFRSD Board of Education also approved advertising for bids for the old Imlaystown School, which is on a 4-acre property on Davis Station Road. The school board is counting on the sale of the building to balance the school district’s proposed general fund operating budget for 2011-2012.
   The two-story brick Imlaystown School was built in the early part of the 20th century. The 7,712-square-foot-building has been appraised at $295,000 if its asbestos problem is remediated prior to the sale, Ms. Schiraldi said.
   Since the estimated cost for asbestos removal is $50,000, the school district prefers to sell the property “as is,” Ms. Schiraldi said. She suggested setting a minimum bid of $260,000 to account for the fact that the buyer will have to deal with the asbestos issue.
   School board member Chris Shaw said he thought the board may be setting the minimum bid too high. If the building needs $50,000 in remediation to be worth $295,000 then a more realistic asking price would be $245,000, he said.
   The rest of the school board decided to follow the administration’s recommendation of setting a $260,000 minimum bid. The vote was 8-0 with Mr. Shaw abstaining.